Why We Care

Why We Care

June 26. The plan, “21st Century New Deal for Jobs,” would invest $2 trillion in our nation’s infrastructure over the next 10 years, including $6 billion annually for “expanding the supply of safe, decent, and affordable housing.” Under the proposal, $3 billion would be used to fund the national Housing Trust Fund and $3 billion would be used to repair public housing. The Progressive Caucus estimates that the housing investments alone would support 75,000 jobs in the first year.

The plan states, “A minimum-wage worker in the United States, even working 40 hours per week, cannot afford the cost of a one-bedroom apartment at a fair-market rent anywhere in the country. Extremely low-income families face an affordable housing shortage of 7.4 million apartments or homes.

“Inadequate resources lead to long waiting lists and life on the edge for more than 11 million families, while families who earn six figures a year receive generous benefits for homeownership. For every $1 we spend in federal dollars benefitting rental-housing tenants, we spend $4 on homeownership benefits. Only 25 percent of federal housing subsidies go to those with the clearest and greatest need. We need to invest more resources in order to address our affordable rental housing crisis.”